Subclinical Effects of Aerobic Training in Urban Environment

Abstract

Aerobic training in an urban environment with high traffic-related air pollution increased inflammatory biomarkers, and, in contrast to aerobic training in a rural environment, cognitive performance on the Stroop task did not improve.

Respiratory and inflammatory responses to short-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution with and without moderate physical activity

“…In previous studies an effect of air pollution exposure has been observed on systemic inflammation with a mainly neutrophilic response 44 45. Unlike our results, air pollution appeared to increase neutrophil counts in the Bos et al 35 study after training in the urban area but not in those participants training in a rural area. PA intensity consisted of running in this study, which was possibly more vigorous compared to our moderate intensity cycling protocol33 and, in addition, effects were based on longer term exposure.…”

“…However, the high correlations among the pollutants made it difficult to separate the effects on the health endpoints. The average ultrafine particle levels found at our high traffic site were considerably higher than those found in previous real world exposure studies in the UK, the Netherlands or Belgium 7 9 35. Mean particle concentrations in our high air pollution site were comparable with exposures measured in chamber studies,36 37 while in our ‘low-exposure site’, air pollution levels were rather comparable with those categorised in other experimental studies as ‘high air pollution’ or ‘traffic site’ 11 38…”

“…In our study, a statistically significant (0.803 ppb, p=0.040) increase in FeNO was observed with the coarse fraction of PM. Bos et al 35 found that FeNO levels increased after training in the urban setting, whereas FeNO did not change after aerobic training in a rural environment. The role of the PA itself in that study remains unclear due to potential variations between the two training programmes and, furthermore, the study design was not a cross-over design in subject allocation.…”

Fast response sequential measurements and modelling of nanoparticles inside and outside a car cabin

“…Vehicle emissions are generally the major source of atmospheric nanoparticle 38 pollution in urban areas and consequently make a very significant contribution to the 39 associated adverse health effects (Bos et al, 2013;Donaldson et al, 2005;Hofmann, 2011;40 Oberdorster, 2000). The scale of such emissions can be estimated from the total number 41 of road vehicles in operation worldwide, a figure put at more than 1 billion in 2010 (Sousanis, 42 2011).…”

Biomarkers of Human Cardiopulmonary Response After Short-Term Exposures to Medical Laser-Generated Particulate Matter From Simulated Procedures

“…Most of these investigations involve longer exposure periods than our study (19–21, 56). Our investigation looked at short exposures of 15-minutes, with a total one hour of exposure, for a single day.…”